Determination of game result using random overall outcome

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to determining a game result on a gaming device by randomly selecting the overall outcome of each game event on the gaming device. Unlike conventional gaming devices that analyze a plurality of random selections, embodiments of the present concept select the overall outcome of a game event a plurality of possible game outcomes. By utilizing the selection of an overall outcome, it may be easier to direct certain outcomes on a gaming device in response to triggering events and may provide a more flexible design platform in which to design the play of the gaming device.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This disclosure relates generally to gaming devices, and moreparticularly to gaming devices configured to determine game results byrandomly selecting an overall game outcome.

BACKGROUND

Typically game results of gaming devices are determined by analyzing aseries of random selections associated with the game. For example, inspinning reel slot machines, a reel-stop position for each reel israndomly selected. Once each random selection is made, the combinationof randomly selected reel-stop positions is analyzed to determine if thecombination of symbols associated with the reel-stop positions resultsin an award for the player. Similarly, in video poker or blackjackrandom cards are selected and then analyzed to see if the combination ofrandomly selected cards results in an award for the player.

The process of making a series of random selections and then analyzingthe results of these selections imposes several limitations both in thecapabilities of gaming devices and the design of the games on the gamingdevices. For the game devices themselves, the above process requiresmultiple random numbers to be used each time a game is played and limitsthe flexibility of the machine in awarding specific outcomes resultingfrom other triggering events. In the slot machine example, a randomnumber must be used for each reel to determine which reel stop or stopsare to be displayed on a game outcome display. For demonstrationpurposes, certain reel stop combinations can programmed into the gamelogic to illustrate a particular bonus or jackpot win. However, duringactual game play in which a player is wagering on the outcome of thegaming device, the game outcomes are often limited by the combination ofrandomly selected reel stops; thereby limiting the ability to dictatecertain symbol combinations displayed on the reels in response totriggering events. This dictation of certain symbol combinations may bedesirable to alter the payback percentage of the gaming devices, providebonuses to the players, or guarantee that certain gaming events happenwithin a given time frame.

In addition, during the design of a gaming device having spinning reels,it is often difficult to obtain multiple exact payback percentages for agiven gaming machine because of the limitations involved in assigningvalues to each reel stop and/or setting up reel strips. For mechanicalspinning reel games, reel strips typically include twenty-two physicalreel stops. Game designers may assign a certain number of virtual stopsor paytable stops to each of these physical stops to allow large prizesto be given away less than once every 10,648 spins. This allocation ofvirtual stops can be challenging when attempting to meet multipleprecise payback percentage paytables as well as difficult in setting hitfrequencies of winning symbol combinations. For multi-line video slotgames, the complexity of determining the number of each symbol on thereels as well as laying out the symbols on a reel strip can be complexand very time consuming.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a functional block diagram that illustrates a gaming deviceaccording to embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 1B is an isometric view of the gaming device illustrated in FIG.1A.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C are detail diagrams of exemplary types of gamingdevices according to embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of networked gaming devicesaccording to embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 4A is an illustrated representation of an exemplary paytable for agaming device according to embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 4B is an illustrated representation of exemplary reel strips for agaming device according to embodiments of the invention.

FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C are functional block diagrams of a game display fora gaming device according to embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a method of determining a game outcome on agaming device according to embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a method of displaying a winning outcome ona gaming device according to embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a method of displaying a losing outcome on agaming device according to embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a method of displaying a game outcome on amulti-line gaming device according to embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of another method of displaying a game outcomeon a multi-line gaming device according to embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of yet another method of displaying a gameoutcome on a multi-line gaming device according to embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of a method of displaying a game outcome on avideo poker gaming device according to embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate example gaming devices according toembodiments of the invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a gaming device 10 is an electronic gamingmachine. Although an electronic gaming machine or “slot” machine isillustrated, various other types of devices may be used to wagermonetarily based credits on a game of chance in accordance withprinciples of the invention. The term “electronic gaming device” ismeant to include various devices such as electro-mechanicalspinning-reel type slot machines, video slot machines, and video pokermachines, for instance. Other gaming devices may include computer-basedgaming machines, wireless gaming devices, multi-player gaming stations,modified personal electronic gaming devices (such as cell phones),personal computers, server-based gaming terminals, and other similardevices. Although embodiments of the invention will work with all of thegaming types mentioned, for ease of illustration the present embodimentswill be described in reference to the electronic gaming machine 10 shownin FIGS. 1A and 1B.

The gaming device 10 includes a cabinet 15 housing components to operatethe gaming device 10. The cabinet 15 may include a gaming display 20, abase portion 13, a top box 18, and a player interface panel 30. Thegaming display 20 may include mechanical spinning reels (FIG. 2A), avideo display (FIGS. 2B and 2C), or a combination of both spinning reelsand a video display (not shown). The gaming cabinet 15 may also includea credit meter 27 and a coin-in or bet meter 28. The credit meter 27 mayindicate the total number of credits remaining on the gaming device 10that are eligible to be wagered. In some embodiments, the credit meter27 may reflect a monetary unit, such as dollars. However, it is oftenpreferable to have the credit meter 27 reflect a number of ‘credits,’rather than a monetary unit. The bet meter 28 may indicate the amount ofcredits to be wagered on a particular game. Thus, for each game, theplayer transfers the amount that he or she wants to wager from thecredit meter 27 to the bet meter 28. In some embodiments, various othermeters may be present, such as meters reflecting amounts won, amountspaid, or the like. In embodiments where the gaming display 20 is a videomonitor, the information indicated on the credit meters may be shown onthe gaming display itself 20 (FIG. 2B).

The base portion 13 may include a lighted panel 14, a coin return (notshown), and a gaming handle 12 operable on a partially rotating pivotjoint 11. The game handle 12 is traditionally included on mechanicalspinning-reel games, where the handle may be pulled toward a player toinitiate the spinning of reels 22 after placement of a wager. The topbox 18 may include a lighted panel 17, a video display (such as an LCDmonitor), a mechanical bonus device (not shown), and a candle lightindicator 19. The player interface panel 30 may include various devicesso that a player can interact with the gaming device 10.

The player interface panel 30 may include one or more game buttons 32that can be actuated by the player to cause the gaming device 10 toperform a specific action. For example, some of the game buttons 32 maycause the gaming device 10 to bet a credit to be wagered during the nextgame, change the number of lines being played on a multi-line game, cashout the credits remaining on the gaming device (as indicated on thecredit meter 27), or request assistance from casino personnel, such asby lighting the candle 19. In addition, the player interface panel 30may include one or more game actuating buttons 33. The game actuatingbuttons 33 may initiate a game with a pre-specified amount of credits.On some gaming devices 10 a “Max Bet” game actuating button 33 may beincluded that places the maximum credit wager on a game and initiatesthe game. The player interface panel 30 may further include a billacceptor 37 and a ticket printer 38. The bill acceptor 37 may accept andvalidate paper money or previously printed tickets with a creditbalance. The ticket printer 38 may print out tickets reflecting thebalance of the credits that remain on the gaming device 10 when a playercashes out by pressing one of the game buttons 32 programmed to cause a‘cashout.’ These tickets may be inserted into other gaming machines orredeemed at a cashier station or kiosk for cash.

The gaming device 10 may also include one or more speakers 26 totransmit auditory information or sounds to the player. The auditoryinformation may include specific sounds associated with particularevents that occur during game play on the gaming device 10. For example,a particularly festive sound may be played during a large win or when abonus is triggered. The speakers 26 may also transmit “attract” soundsto entice nearby players when the game is not currently being played.

The gaming device 10 may further include a secondary display 25. Thissecondary display 25 may be a vacuum fluorescent display (VFD), a liquidcrystal display (LCD), a cathode ray tube (CRT), a plasma screen, or thelike. The secondary display 25 may show any combination of primary gameinformation and ancillary information to the player. For example, thesecondary display 25 may show player tracking information, secondarybonus information, advertisements, or player selectable game options.

The gaming device 10 may include a separate information window (notshown) dedicated to supplying any combination of information related toprimary game play, secondary bonus information, player trackinginformation, secondary bonus information, advertisements or playerselectable game options. This window may be fixed in size and locationor may have its size and location vary temporally as communication needschange. One example of such a resizable window is International GameTechnology's “service window.” Another example is Las Vegas GamingIncorporated's retrofit technology which allows information to be placedover areas of the game or the secondary display screen at various timesand in various situations.

The gaming device 10 includes a microprocessor 40 that controlsoperation of the gaming device 10. If the gaming device 10 is astandalone gaming device, the microprocessor 40 may control virtuallyall of the operations of the gaming devices and attached equipment, suchas operating game logic stored in memory (not shown) as firmware,controlling the display 20 to represent the outcome of a game,communicating with the other peripheral devices (such as the billacceptor 37), and orchestrating the lighting and sound emanating fromthe gaming device 10. In other embodiments where the gaming device 10 iscoupled to a network 50, as described below, the microprocessor 40 mayhave different tasks depending on the setup and function of the gamingdevice. For example, the microprocessor 40 may be responsible forrunning the base game of the gaming device and executing instructionsreceived over the network 50 from a bonus server or player trackingserver. In a server-based gaming setup, the microprocessor 40 may act asa terminal to execute instructions from a remote server that is runninggame play on the gaming device.

The microprocessor 40 may be coupled to a machine communicationinterface (MCI) 42 that connects the gaming device 10 to a gamingnetwork 50. The MCI 42 may be coupled to the microprocessor 40 through aserial connection, a parallel connection, an optical connection, or insome cases a wireless connection. The gaming device 10 may includememory 41 (MEM), such as a random access memory (RAM), coupled to themicroprocessor 40 and which can be used to store gaming information,such as storing total coin-in statistics about a present or past gamingsession, which can be communicated to a remote server or databasethrough the MCI 42. The MCI 42 may also facilitate communication betweenthe network 50 and the secondary display 25 or a player tracking unit 45housed in the gaming cabinet 15.

The player tracking unit 45 may include an identification device 46 andone or more buttons 47 associated with the player tracking unit 45. Theidentification device 46 serves to identify a player, by, for example,reading a player-tracking device, such as a player tracking card that isissued by the casino to individual players who choose to have such acard. The identification device 46 may instead, or additionally,identify players through other methods. Player tracking systems usingplayer tracking cards and card readers 46 are known in the art. Brieflysummarizing such a system, a player registers with the casino prior tocommencing gaming. The casino issues a unique player-tracking card tothe player and opens a corresponding player account that is stored on aserver or host computer, described below with reference to FIG. 3. Theplayer account may include the player's name and mailing address andother information of interest to the casino in connection with marketingefforts. Prior to playing one of the gaming devices in the casino, theplayer inserts the player tracking card into the identification device46 thus permitting the casino to track player activity, such as amountswagered, credits won, and rate of play.

To induce the player to use the card and be an identified player, thecasino may award each player points proportional to the money or creditswagered by the player. Players typically accrue points at a rate relatedto the amount wagered, although other factors may cause the casino toaward the player various amounts. The points may be displayed on thesecondary display 25 or using other methods. In conventional playertracking systems, the player may take his or her card to a special deskin the casino where a casino employee scans the card to determine howmany accrued points are in the player's account. The player may redeempoints for selected merchandise, meals in casino restaurants, or thelike, which each have assigned point values. In some player trackingsystems, the player may use the secondary display 25 to access theirplayer tracking account, such as to check a total number of points,redeem points for various services, make changes to their account, ordownload promotional credits to the gaming device 10. In otherembodiments, the identification device 46 may read other identifyingcards (such as driver licenses, credit cards, etc.) to identify a playerand match them to a corresponding player tracking account. Although FIG.1A shows the player tracking unit 45 with a card reader as theidentification device 46, other embodiments may include a playertracking unit 45 with a biometric scanner, PIN code acceptor, or othermethods of identifying a player to pair the player with their playertracking account.

During typical play on a gaming device 10, a player plays a game byplacing a wager and then initiating a gaming session. The player mayinitially insert monetary bills or previously printed tickets with acredit value into the bill acceptor 37. The player may also put coinsinto a coin acceptor (not shown) or a credit, debit or casino accountcard into a card reader/authorizer (not shown). One of skill in the artwill readily see that this invention is useful with all gamblingdevices, regardless of the manner in which wager value-input isaccomplished.

The credit meter 27 displays the numeric credit value of the moneyinserted dependent on the denomination of the gaming device 10. That is,if the gaming device 10 is a nickel slot machine and a $20 bill insertedinto the bill acceptor 37, the credit meter will reflect 400 credits orone credit for each nickel of the inserted twenty dollars. For gamingdevices 10 that support multiple denominations, the credit meter 27 willreflect the amount of credits relative to the denomination selected.Thus, in the above example, if a penny denomination is selected afterthe $20 is inserted the credit meter will change from 400 credits to2000 credits.

A wager may be placed by pushing one or more of the game buttons 32,which may be reflected on the bet meter 28. That is, the player cangenerally depress a “bet one” button (one of the buttons on the playerinterface panel 30, such as 32), which transfers one credit from thecredit meter 27 to the bet meter 28. Each time the button 32 isdepressed an additional single credit transfers to the bet meter 28 upto a maximum bet that can be placed on a single play of the electronicgaming device 10. The gaming session may be initiated by pulling thegaming handle 12 or depressing the spin button 33. On some gamingdevices 10, a “max bet” button (another one of the buttons 32 on theplayer interface panel 30) may be depressed to wager the maximum numberof credits supported by the gaming device 10 and initiate a gamingsession.

If the gaming session does not result in any winning combination, theprocess of placing a wager may be repeated by the player. Alternatively,the player may cash out any remaining credits on the credit meter 27 bydepressing the “cash-out” button (another button 32 on the playerinterface panel 30), which causes the credits on the credit meter 27 tobe paid out in the form of a ticket through the ticket printer 38, ormay be paid out in the form of returning coins from a coin hopper (notshown) to a coin return tray.

If instead a winning combination (win) appears on the display 20, theaward corresponding to the winning combination is immediately applied tothe credit meter 27. For example, if the gaming device 10 is a slotmachine, a winning combination of symbols 23 may land on a playedpayline on reels 22. If any bonus games are initiated, the gaming device10 may enter into a bonus mode or simply award the player with a bonusamount of credits that are applied to the credit meter 27.

FIGS. 2A to 2C illustrate exemplary types of gaming devices according toembodiments of the invention. FIG. 2A illustrates an examplespinning-reel gaming machine 10A, FIG. 2B illustrates an example videoslot machine 10B, and FIG. 2C illustrates an example video poker machine10C.

Referring to FIG. 2A, a spinning-reel gaming machine 10A includes agaming display 20A having a plurality of mechanical spinning reels 22A.Typically, spinning-reel gaming machines 10A have three to five spinningreels 22A. Each of the spinning reels 22A has multiple symbols 23A thatmay be separated by blank areas on the spinning reels 22A, although thepresence of blank areas typically depends on the number of reels 22Apresent in the gaming device 10A and the number of different symbols 23Athat may appear on the spinning reels 22A. Each of the symbols 22A orblank areas makes up a “stop” on the spinning reel 22A where the reel22A comes to rest after a spin. Although the spinning reels 22A ofvarious games 10A may have various numbers of stops, many conventionalspinning-reel gaming devices 10A have reels 22A with twenty two stops.

During game play, the spinning reels 22A may be controlled by steppermotors (not shown) under the direction of the microprocessor 40 (FIG.1A). Thus, although the spinning-reel gaming device 10A has mechanicalbased spinning reels 22A, the movement of the reels themselves iselectronically controlled to spin and stop. This electronic control isadvantageous because it allows a virtual reel strip to be stored in thememory 41 of the gaming device 10A, where various “virtual stops” aremapped to each physical stop on the physical reel 22A. This mappingallows the gaming device 10A to establish greater awards and bonusesavailable to the player because of the increased number of possiblecombinations afforded by the virtual reel strips.

A gaming session on a spinning reel slot machine 10A typically includesthe player pressing the “bet-one” button (one of the game buttons 32A)to wager a desired number of credits followed by pulling the gaminghandle 12 (FIGS. 1A, 1B) or pressing the spin button 33A to spin thereels 22A. Alternatively, the player may simply press the “max-bet”button (another one of the game buttons 32A) to both wager the maximumnumber of credits permitted and initiate the spinning of the reels 22A.The spinning reels 22A may all stop at the same time or may individuallystop one after another (typically from left to right) to build playeranticipation. Because the display 20A usually cannot be physicallymodified, some spinning reel slot machines 10A include an electronicdisplay screen in the top box 18 (FIG. 1B), a mechanical bonus mechanismin the top box 18, or a secondary display 25 (FIG. 1A) to execute abonus.

Referring to FIG. 2B, a video gaming machine 10B may include a videodisplay 20B to display virtual spinning reels 22B and various othergaming information 21B. The video display 20B may be a CRT, LCD, plasmascreen, or the like. It is usually preferable that the video display 20Bbe a touchscreen to accept player input. A number of symbols 23A appearon each of the virtual spinning reels 22B. Although FIG. 2B shows fivevirtual spinning reels 22B, the flexibility of the video display 20Ballows for various reel 22B and game configurations. For example, somevideo slot games 10B spin reels for each individual symbol position (orstop) that appears on the video display 20B. That is, each symbolposition on the screen is independent of every other position during thegaming sessions. In these types of games, very large numbers of paylines or multiple super scatter pays can be utilized since similarsymbols could appear at every symbol position on the video display 20B.On the other hand, other video slot games 10B more closely resemble themechanical spinning reel games where symbols that are verticallyadjacent to each other are part of the same continuous virtual spinningreel 22B.

Because the virtual spinning reels 22B, by virtue of being computerimplemented, can have almost any number of stops on a reel strip, it ismuch easier to have a greater variety of displayed outcomes as comparedto spinning-reel slot machines 10A (FIG. 2A) that have a fixed number ofphysical stops on each spinning reel 22A.

With the possible increases in reel 22B numbers and configurations overthe mechanical gaming device 10A, video gaming devices 10B often havemultiple paylines 24 that may be played. By having more paylines 24available to play, the player may be more likely to have a winningcombination when the reels 22B stop and the gaming session ends.However, since the player typically must wager at least a minimum numberof credits to enable each payline 24 to be eligible for winning, theoverall odds of winning are not much different, if at all, than if theplayer is wagering only on a single payline. For example, in a five linegame, the player may bet one credit per payline 24 and be eligible forwinning symbol combinations that appear on any of the five playedpaylines 24. This gives a total of five credits wagered and fivepossible winning paylines 24. If, on the other hand, the player onlywagers one credit on one payline 24, but plays five gaming sessions, theodds of winning would be identical as above: five credits wagered andfive possible winning paylines 24.

Because the video display 20B can easily modify the image output by thevideo display 20B, bonuses, such as second screen bonuses are relativelyeasy to award on the video slot game 10B. That is, if a bonus istriggered during game play, the video display 20B may simply store theresulting screen shot in memory and display a bonus sequence on thevideo display 20B. After the bonus sequence is completed, the videodisplay 20B may then retrieve the previous screen shot and informationfrom memory, and re-display that image.

Also, as mentioned above, the video display 20B may allow various othergame information 21B to be displayed. For example, as shown in FIG. 2B,banner information may be displayed above the spinning reels 22B toinform the player, perhaps, which symbol combination is needed totrigger a bonus. Also, instead of providing a separate credit meter 27(FIG. 1A) and bet meter 28, the same information can instead bedisplayed on the video display 20B. In addition, “soft buttons” 29B suchas a “spin” button or “help/see pays” button may be built using thetouch screen video display 20B. Such customization and ease of changingthe image shown on the display 20B adds to the flexibility of the game10B.

Even with the improved flexibility afforded by the video display 20B,several physical buttons 32B and 33B are usually provided on video slotmachines 10B. These buttons may include game buttons 32B that allow aplayer to choose the number of paylines 24 he or she would like to playand the number of credits wagered on each payline 24. In addition, a maxbet button (one of the game buttons 32B) allows a player to place amaximum credit wager on the maximum number of available paylines 24 andinitiate a gaming session. A repeat bet or spin button 33B may also beused to initiate each gaming session when the max bet button is notused.

Referring to FIG. 2C, a video poker gaming device 10C may include avideo display 20C that is physically similar to the video display 20Bshown in FIG. 2B. The video display 20C may show a poker hand of fivecards 23C and various other player information 21C including a paytablefor various winning hands, as well as a plurality of player selectablesoft buttons 29C. The video display 20C may present a poker hand of fivecards 23C and various other player information 21C including a number ofplayer selectable soft (touch-screen) buttons 29C and a paytable forvarious winning hands. Although the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3Cshows only one hand of poker on the video display 20C, various othervideo poker machines 10C may show several poker hands (multi-handpoker). Typically, video poker machines 10C play “draw” poker in which aplayer is dealt a hand of five cards, has the opportunity to hold anycombination of those five cards, and then draws new cards to replace thediscarded ones. All pays are usually given for winning combinationsresulting from the final hand, although some video poker games 10C maygive bonus credits for certain combinations received on the first handbefore the draw. In the example shown in FIG. 2C a player has been dealttwo aces, a three, a six, and a nine. The video poker game 10C mayprovide a bonus or payout for the player having been dealt the pair ofaces, even before the player decides what to discard in the draw. Sincepairs, three of a kind, etc. are typically needed for wins, a playerwould likely hold the two aces that have been dealt and draw three cardsto replace the three, six, and nine in the hope of receiving additionalaces or other cards leading to a winning combination with a higher awardamount. After the draw and revealing of the final hand, the video pokergame 10C typically awards any credits won to the credit meter.

The player selectable soft buttons 29C appearing on the screenrespectively correspond to each card on the video display 20C. Thesesoft buttons 29C allow players to select specific cards on the videodisplay 20C such that the card corresponding to the selected soft buttonis “held” before the draw. Typically, video poker machines 10C alsoinclude physical game buttons 32C that correspond to the cards in thehand and may be selected to hold a corresponding card. A deal/drawbutton 33C may also be included to initiate a gaming session aftercredits have been wagered (with a bet button 32C, for example) and todraw any cards not held after the first hand is displayed.

Although examples of a spinning reel slot machine 10A, a video slotmachine 10B, and a video poker machine 10C have been illustrated inFIGS. 2A-2C, gaming machines and various other types of gaming devicesknown in the art are contemplated and are within the scope of theinvention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating networked gaming devicesaccording to embodiments of the invention. Referring to FIG. 3, multipleelectronic gaming devices (EGMs) 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, and 75 may becoupled to one another and coupled to a remote server 80 through anetwork 50. For ease of understanding, gaming devices or EGMs 70, 71,72, 73, 74, and 75 are generically referred to as EGMs 70-75. The termEGMs 70-75, however, may refer to any combination of one or more of EGMs70, 71, 72, 73, 74, and 75. Additionally, the gaming server 80 may becoupled to one or more gaming databases 90. These gaming network 50connections may allow multiple gaming devices 70-75 to remain incommunication with one another during particular gaming modes such astournament play or remote head-to-head play. Although some of the gamingdevices 70-75 coupled on the gaming network 50 may resemble the gamingdevices 10, 10A, 10B, and 10C shown in FIGS. 1A-1B and 2A-2C, othercoupled gaming devices 70-75 may include differently configured gamingdevices. For example, the gaming devices 70-75 may include traditionalslot machines 75 directly coupled to the network 50, banks of gamingdevices 70 coupled to the network 50, banks of gaming devices 70 coupledto the network through a bank controller 60, wireless handheld gamingmachines 72 and cell phones 73 coupled to the gaming network 50 throughone or more wireless routers or antennas 61, personal computers 74coupled to the network 50 through the internet 62, and banks of gamingdevices 71 coupled to the network through one or more optical connectionlines 64. Additionally, some of the traditional gaming devices 70, 71,and 75 may include electronic gaming tables, multi-station gamingdevices, or electronic components operating in conjunction withnon-gaming components, such as automatic card readers, chip readers, andchip counters, for example.

Gaming devices 71 coupled over an optical line 64 may be remote gamingdevices in a different location or casino. The optical line 64 may becoupled to the gaming network 50 through an electronic to optical signalconverter 63 and may be coupled to the gaming devices 71 through anoptical to electronic signal converter 65. The banks of gaming devices70 coupled to the network 50 may be coupled through a bank controller 60for compatibility purposes, for local organization and control, or forsignal buffering purposes. The network 50 may include serial or parallelsignal transmission lines and carry data in accordance with datatransfer protocols such as Ethernet transmission lines, Rs-232 lines,firewire lines, USB lines, or other communication protocols. Althoughnot shown in FIG. 3, substantially the entire network 50 may be made offiber optic lines or may be a wireless network utilizing a wirelessprotocol such as IEEE 802.11a, b, g, or n, Zigbee, RF protocols, opticaltransmission, near-field transmission, or the like.

As mentioned above, each gaming device 70-75 may have an individualprocessor 40 (FIG. 1A) and memory 41 to run and control game play on thegaming device 70-75, or some of the gaming devices 70-75 may beterminals that are run by a remote server 80 in a server based gamingenvironment. Server based gaming environments may be advantageous tocasinos by allowing fast downloading of particular game types or themesbased on casino preference or player selection. Additionally, tournamentbased games, linked games, and certain game types, such as BINGO or kenomay benefit from at least some server 80 based control.

Thus, in some embodiments, the network 50, server 80, and database 90may be dedicated to communications regarding specific game or tournamentplay. In other embodiments, however, the network 50, server 80, anddatabase 90 may be part of a player tracking network. For playertracking capabilities, when a player inserts a player tracking card inthe card reader 46 (FIG. 1A), the player tracking unit 45 sends playeridentification information obtained on the card reader 46 through theMCI 42 over the network 50 to the player tracking server 80, where theplayer identification information is compared to player informationrecords in the player database 90 to provide the player with informationregarding their player account or other features at the gaming device 10where the player is wagering. Additionally, multiple databases 90 and/orservers 80 may be present and coupled to one or more networks 50 toprovide a variety of gaming services, such as both game/tournament dataand player tracking data.

The various systems described with reference to FIGS. 1-3 can be used ina number of ways. For instance, the systems can be used to track dataabout various players. The tracked data can be used by the casino toprovide additional benefits to players, such as extra bonuses or extrabenefits such as bonus games and other benefits as described above.These added benefits further entice the players to play at the casinothat provides the benefits.

Embodiments of this concept are directed to determining game outcomesbased on the outcomes themselves instead of making a series of randomselections and analyzing those selections to determine the game outcome.For example, in a spinning reel slot machine, the outcome of threebar-type symbols (Any Bars) may be directly selected from a list ortable of possible outcomes instead of determining that the first reelstopped on a single bar symbol, the second reel stopped on a triple barsymbol, and the third reel stopped on a single bar symbol, where afurther analysis must be done to determine that these reel stops resultin an any bar award.

While the direct selection of a game outcome may require slightly fewermicroseconds for a processor to determine the game outcome, thisadvantage may be relatively small in traditional game play since thespeed and capacity of the processors used in recent game devices isusually adequate to perform either method in well less than a second.However, embodiments of the present concept allow for much more flexibledesign of the gaming device and may be easily modifiable by a casinooperator or even dynamically during game play to alter the paytable, andhence the feel, of the game. For example, as discussed above, a gamedesigner is typically tasked with determining how many physical and/orvirtual symbols to place on each reel and then create a reel strip thatconforms to those symbol parameters. For a physical 3-reel slot machine,there is typically not much flexibility in minutely altering paybackpercentages because the addition or subtraction of a single virtual stopgenerally has a significant affect on the overall payback percentage ofthe gaming device. For a 5-reel video slot machine, each symbol that isadded to a reel generally needs to be fit into that reel strip. Withreel lengths that often times are greater than seventy or eightysymbols, it can take a lot of time and talent to arrange all of thesymbols on each of the reel strips.

Additionally, in either type of gaming device, it is nearly impossibleto alter or modify a paytable during a gaming session to change the gameperformance between gaming events because the addition or subtraction ofa symbol necessarily requires the creation of new reel strips. Incontrast, since embodiments of this concept select game outcomes from alist or table, a modification of this table or list during game play caneasily alter the paytable and game characteristics without the need tomodify the reel strips or other aspects of the game device. Theseadvantages and others will be discussed below in the following examplesand embodiments of this concept. Although spinning reel gaming devicesare often discussed for purposes of providing examples, embodiments ofthis concept can be used with any type of gaming device.

FIG. 4A is an illustrated representation of an exemplary paytable for agaming device according to embodiments of the invention. FIG. 4B is anillustrated representation of exemplary reel strips for a gaming deviceaccording to embodiments of the invention. The exemplary gaming deviceto be used with the described paytable and reel strips is a spinningreel slot machine similar to the ones illustrated in FIGS. 2A or 2B, butwith three spinning reels instead of five spinning reels and a singlepayline in the center of the game display.

Referring to the paytable shown in FIG. 4A, nine possible game outcomesare listed in the left column of the paytable under the heading“Outcome.” As defined in this application, a winning outcome is anyoutcome that is associated with an award, prize, or other incentivegiven to the player as a result of the outcome. On the other hand, alosing outcome is an outcome that is not associated with an award,prize, or other incentive. For the listed outcomes, “X” represents ablank or any symbol. Hence, the outcome “X X X” is a generic losingoutcome that encompasses any outcome other than the other eight winninggame outcomes also listed. The pay for each outcome is located in theadjacent column labeled “Pay.” The generic losing outcome is associatedwith a pay of zero, thereby reflecting that the player is not awardedanything for this outcome. The next listed outcome, “CH CH CH”represents a cherry symbol landing on a payline for each of the threereels. This outcome is associated with a pay of 2 credits. The nextoutcome of “any bars,” represents outcomes where three bar-style symbolsland on the payline, but do not all match each other. A single baroutcome, a double bar outcome, a triple bar outcome, and a sevensoutcome are listed next. The “X X BN” outcome represents an outcomewhere the symbols on the first two reels could be anything, but thesymbol landing on the payline on the third (last) reel is a bonussymbol. This bonus outcome may trigger a secondary screen bonus, awheel-spin bonus, a fixed prize bonus, or any other type of bonus. Thecredit value of 60 is associated with this bonus outcome and representsthe average pay of the bonus. Since the bonus may include many differentoutcomes ranging from a small award or even no award, to a very largeaward, the paytable need only reflect the average value of these awards.Finally, three jackpot symbols pay a top award of 100 credits when theyappear on a payline.

The “Paytable Weight” column provides a number range for each of theoutcomes that determines how often that outcome occurs. The “HitFrequency” column reflects what percentage of spins will result in acorresponding wager. The hit frequency is simply determined by dividingthe associated paytable weight by the total of all of the paytableweights, which in this example is “2246.” For example, the single baroutcome of “BAR BAR BAR” has an associated Paytable weight of “50,” anda hit frequency of 2.23%. This means that a player is expected to hit a“BAR BAR BAR” outcome about every 45 games. The paytable weight is animportant element in determining hit frequency, payback percentage, andvolatility of the game. When developing a game paytable, a game designercan alter the types of winning outcomes, the pay of the winningoutcomes, and the weight of the paytable weight of an outcome to producethe play characteristics of the gaming device. However, once thedetermination is made about what symbol combinations will be winningoutcomes and what award each of those winning outcomes should pay, themain variable in altering the play characteristics of the gaming deviceis the paytable weight associated with each outcome. Unlike traditionalgames, the games associated with embodiments of this concept allow thegame designer to control the hit frequency of specific game outcomes bymanipulating the paytable weights associated with those game outcomes.Additionally, the overall hit frequency of a gaming device and thevolatility of the gaming device can be quickly shaped using the paytableweights. In the example paytable illustrated in FIG. 4A, the overallgame hit frequency is 19.86%, which is the sum of the hit frequencies ofthe winning outcomes, or 100% minus the hit frequency of the genericlosing outcome.

The “Contribution” column is achieved by multiplying the value in the“Pay” column with the value in the “Hit Freq” column. This contributionrelates to the relative or normalized weight each outcome has on thepayback percentage of the game. The sum of these contributions resultsin the overall payback percentage of the game, which in this example is97.95%. The hold percentage of a gaming device is simply 100% minus thepayback percentage. Thus, in this example, the hold percentage of agaming device using this paytable would be 2.05%. The contributioncolumn provides a method of determining what portion of a paytable isdirected to a particular outcome.

Referring to the reel strips illustrated in FIG. 4B, each reel of thisthree reel gaming device includes twenty two reel stop positions. Theodd reel stops are not associated with an illustrated symbol and arereferred to as “blanks.” The even reel stops are associated withparticular symbols involved in the game. For example, the illustratedreel strip for “Reel 1” includes a cherry symbol at reel stop 2 followedby a bar symbol, a “7,” a double bar, a jackpot symbol, a triple bar,another bar symbol, another cherry symbol, another double bar, another“7,” and another triple bar with blanks interspersed in between each ofthe illustrated symbols. The reel strips for “Reel 2” and “Reel 3” aresimilarly set up although the actual number and order of the symbolsvaries. Note that the bonus symbol “BN” only appears on the third reel.

In this embodiment, operation of the gaming device includes obtaining arandom number or indicator once the player has pulled a game handle orpressed a game initiating button, and normalizing this random number tomatch one of the ranges associated with the paytable weights for eachoutcome. These ranges may be determined by using the paytable weightsfrom the paytable illustrated in FIG. 4A. For example, the rangeassociated with the generic losing outcome (“X X X”) may be 0-1799, therange for the three cherries may be 1800-1999, the range for the threeany bars may be 2000-2149, etc. The final range for the three jackpotsymbols may be 2245-2245 (i.e., only one number). The random number maybe a random decimal value selected between zero and 1. This number wouldbe normalized to the paytable outcome ranges by multiplying the randomdecimal value by 2245 and rounding to the nearest integer number. Thiswould generate a random outcome number between 0 and 2245. Once therandom outcome number is obtained, it can be matched within the rangesrelated to specified game outcomes. For example, if the random numberwas 0.56879845, the random outcome number would be 1277, which wouldfall between 0 and 1799, and hence correspond to the generic losingoutcome. If the random number was 0.98265689, the random outcome numberwould be 2206, which would fall between 2200 and 2224, and hencecorrespond to an outcome of three double bars.

Although the embodiment discussed above selects an outcome using arandomly obtained number or indicator, other outcome selection methodsor processes may be used in different embodiments. For instance, certaingaming events on the gaming device may trigger the selection of aparticular gaming outcome or type of gaming outcome. In one example, agaming device may be configured to provide a “CH CH CH” award if awinning outcome has not been reached in twenty consecutive games. Inthis example, the selection of the “CH CH CH” outcome would be theresult of a device instruction rather than a result associated with arandomly obtained indicator. Many other circumstances exist in which aparticular outcome or a type of outcome, such as a winning outcome, maybe selected or determined without an element of randomness.

Once an outcome has been determined, the gaming device selects the reelstops corresponding to the outcome to display to the player. The reelsare then spun and the selected reel stops are displayed on the payline.As noted above, the reel strips will often include multiple instances ofa symbol. Hence, the actual determination of which symbol to display mayinvolve a selection process. This selection process may include a randomselection, an alternating selection, or another type of selectionprocess to determine which of the reel stops associated with aparticular symbol to display. For a losing outcome, the gaming devicemay again use a selection process to select a losing outcome to display.There are many variations of how to select a proper winning outcome andhow to select a losing outcome. Some of these variations are discussedin detail below with respect to FIGS. 6-12.

One advantage of this method of determining a game outcome is thatpaytables can be easily changed between game events. For example, it maybe desirable to alter the characteristics of a paytable for one or moregames in response to a triggering event. For instance, a player mayexperience fifteen consecutive losing outcomes, which triggers a changein the paytable for next two games. This change may include temporarilyaltering the paytable weights associated with each outcome. In oneinstance, the paytable weight for the generic losing outcome may bereduced to 1000 and 800 extra paytable “weight points” may be added tothe cherry, any bar, and single bar outcomes, thereby giving the playera better than 50% chance of having a winning outcome for the next togames. Infinite different variations exist for many different triggeringconditions and alterations of the paytable. However, unlike traditionalmethod of determining a game outcome, embodiments of the presentconceptual method provide a simple way to alter the paytable, chancegame characteristics, or emphasize certain results without completelychanging how a gaming device operates or significantly modifying itsvirtual and/or physical reel strips.

The above description has focuses on a spinning reel gaming devicehaving a single payline. However, other embodiments of this concept areadapted to work with multi-line gaming devices. For less complexmulti-line gaming device a similar calculation method as described abovecan be used. FIGS. 5A-5C introduce examples of some of these methods.For more complex multi-line gaming devices, various techniques may beemployed to facilitate the direct selection of a game outcome from alist or table, some of which are discussed further 10 below withreference to FIGS. 9-11. One of the significant issues in accommodatingmulti-line gaming devices is that a player playing multiple pay lines isessentially placing a wager on each of the paylines and an outcomedetermined on one payline may not correspond to the symbols needed foranother outcome on another played payline.

FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C are functional block diagrams of a game display fora gaming device according to embodiments of the invention.

Referring to FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C, a gaming display is shown for a threereel slot machine, such as the one described above for use with thepaytable and reel strips of FIGS. 4A and 4B. These gaming displaysinclude a result area that displays three adjacent symbols for each ofthe three reels. Hence, there are nine symbols shown on the gamingdisplay, which are represented in FIG. 4A as Sym 1 through Sym 9.Although these nine symbol positions may be the only positions “inplay,” the player is often able to see one or more symbol positionsabove and below the nine symbols shown on the gaming display. Theprimary pay line (“Line 1”) is the payline overlying Sym 2, Sym 5, andSym 8 in FIG. 4A. In a single payline game, the single payline usuallycorresponds to this center position. When a player of multi-line gamechooses to play only one payline, they typically are given this primarypayline as their single payline for play. The second payline (“Line 2”)is the payline overlying Sym 1, Sym 4, and Sym 7. The third payline(“Line 3”) is the horizontal payline overlying Sym 3, Sym 6, and Sym 9.

Three operational examples will now be described with reference to FIGS.4A, 4B, 5A, 5B, and 5C.

EXAMPLE 1

For the purposes of this first example, a player is playing a singlepayline gaming device or only playing one line of a multi-line gamingdevice. After a wager is received and the game initiated, a randomnumber is obtained that corresponds to the outcome of three cherrysymbols (“CH CH CH”). As described above, this determination of the gameoutcome may be done immediately after an input to initiate a game isreceived. Thus, although the game outcome may be determined at thistime, the player is not aware of the outcome as it has not yet beendisplayed. The reels may also be triggered to begin spinning in responseto the activation of the game initiating player input.

Because multiple cherry symbols (CH) exist on each of the reel strips, agame outcome display needs to be determined. Cherry symbols are includedat reel stops 2 and 16 on the first reel strip, at reel stops 12 and 22on the second reel strip, and at reel stops 14 and 22 on the third reelstrip. Thus, the following combination of reel stops shown in table Amay be used as a game outcome display to show the determined gameoutcome of three cherry symbols.

TABLE A Reel Stops For Reel Stops For Reel Stops For Reel 1 Reel 2 Reel3 2 12 14 2 12 22 2 22 14 2 22 22 16 12 14 16 12 22 16 22 14 16 22 22

In some embodiments, these combinations may be predetermined and codedinto the memory of the game device so that they may be quickly accessedand used when an associated outcome is determined to be a game outcome.The game processor may randomly choose one of these eight possible gameoutcome displays as the game outcome display to show, or the gameprocessor may cycle through each of the possible game outcome displayswhen the three cherry symbol outcome is determined to be the gameoutcome. In other embodiments, the game processor may randomly selectone of the corresponding reel stops for each reel. Thus, the gameprocessor may select between stops 2 and 16 for reel 1, between stops 12and 22 for reel 2, and between stops 14 and 22 on reel 3. Here insteadof calculating out all of the possible outcome combinations, theseembodiments only require that the identity of each symbol on the reelstrip be recorded in the gaming code and identifiable to match a symbolneeded for a determined game outcome. Alternate methods of determiningthe game display outcome are also possible.

Once a game outcome display is selected, the game can stop each of thereels on the selected reel stops to show the determined game outcomedisplay. FIG. 5B illustrates an example display of this game outcome.After each of the reels has been stopped and the game outcome displayhas been shown to the player, the game may award the player a prize oftwo credits, which corresponds to the game outcome of three cherries.

EXAMPLE 2

For the purposes of this second example, a player is playing all threelines of a multi-line gaming device illustrated in FIG. 5A. As describedabove, play of multiple lines on a single game is similar to playingmultiple games with a single payline. In the present example, the gamingdevice uses three random numbers to determine three game outcomes foreach of the played paylines. The first random number may correspond toan outcome received on the first payline, the second random number maycorrespond to an outcome received on the second payline, and the thirdrandom number may correspond to an outcome received on the thirdpayline. Since the play of a multi-line game essentially gives theplayer multiple chances at obtaining a winning combination (i.e.,multiple different ways that arrangements of symbols appearing on thegame display can be configured into winning outcomes), the exemplarymethod of this embodiment gives the player three chances at receiving awinning outcome. In cases where more than one winning outcome isreceived from the three randomly obtained numbers, the gaming devicewill display and award the highest paying of the outcomes.

For purposes of Example 2, after a wager is received and the gameinitiated, a first random number corresponding to the first payline isobtained that is associated with the outcome of three cherry symbols(“CH CH CH”), a second random number is then obtained that is associatedwith the generic losing outcome, and a third random number is obtainedthat is also associated with the outcome of three cherry symbols (“CH CHCH”). Obviously, it would be impossible to have the have the physicalspinning reels display three cherries on the first payline and the thirdpayline at the same time. Since the gaming device awards the highestpaying of the outcomes in situations where multiple outcomes arepresent, the game would indicate that a winning outcome of threecherries is to be displayed on the first payline. Note that since theoutcome of three cherries received on the third payline was notassociated with an award value greater than the outcome for payline 1,it does not replace the outcome for the first payline. A displaytechnique similar to one of the game outcome display techniquesdescribed above in Example 1 may then be used to display the gameoutcome of three cherries as shown in FIG. 5B.

EXAMPLE 3

For the purposes of this third example, a player is again playing allthree lines of a multi-line gaming device illustrated in FIG. 5A. Thistime, after a wager is received and the game initiated, a first randomnumber corresponding to the first payline is obtained that is associatedwith the outcome of three any bars (“AB AB AB”), a second random numberis then obtained that is associated with the generic losing outcome, anda third random number is obtained that is also associated with theoutcome of three single bar symbols (“BAR BAR BAR”). Again, it would beimpossible to have the have the physical spinning reels display threeany bars on the first payline and three bars on the third payline at thesame time. Since the gaming device awards the highest paying of theoutcomes in situations where multiple outcomes are present, the gamewould initially indicate a winning outcome of three any bars is to bedisplayed on the first payline, but would replace that initial winningoutcome determination with a winning outcome of three bars on the thirdpayline when the third random number was obtained. This is due to thefact that three bar symbols pays five credits while three any bars onlypays three credits.

Next the game device would use one of the above-described methods ofdisplaying the winning outcome of three bars on the third payline. Inthis instance, the reel stop positions of 4, 14, and 16 are respectivelychosen as being displayed on the third payline. This displayed outcomeis shown in FIG. 5C. As illustrated in this figure, the selection ofthese reel stop positions also causes three cherry symbols to appear onthe second payline. Although the second random number associated withthe second payline corresponded to the generic losing outcome, a secondwinning combination has been achieved by virtue of the reel stopselections for the winning outcome on the third payline. Hence, the gamein this example would pay seven credits, five for the three barsreceived on the third payline and two for the three cherries received onthe second payline.

Although these examples are used to illustrate some basic embodiments ofthe present concept, many other variations and alternatives exist inimplementing principles of this concept.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a method of determining a game outcome on agaming device according to embodiments of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, an example flow 200 begins by receiving a wagerfrom a player to play a game at a gaming device (210). A game initiatinginput is then received in process (212) to initiate the game for whichthe previous wager was received. As discussed above, the player mayselect a specific amount to wager on the game device and separatelypress a game initiation button (e.g., a SPIN button), or a player maypress a single button (e.g., a MAX BET button or a REPEAT BET button)that both places the desired wager and initiates a game using thedesired wager. In process (214), an outcome selecting indicator inobtained. In some embodiments, this outcome selecting indicator is asingle Random Number Generator (RNG) value. The RNG value may beobtained from a dedicated random number generator either on the gamingdevice or on a remote server, or may be obtained from a microprocessor40 (FIG. 1A) in the gaming device. Additionally, the RNG value may beobtained from a software or firmware algorithm or application, or fromany other source known in the art. In other embodiments, the outcomeselecting indicator may include a directive from the game processor,from a remote server, or from another control source. This directive mayspecify the selection of a certain outcome or a certain type of outcomeas discussed above.

The outcome for the game is then determined from the outcome selectingindicator in process (216). Because most game devices utilize manypossible outcomes, a few of which are winning outcomes, the outcomeselecting indicator may be preferably used to determine if the outcomeis a losing outcome or one of a plurality of winning outcomes. That is,as described above with respect to FIG. 4A, an RNG value being used asthe outcome selecting indicator may be mapped to either a generic losingoutcome, or one of the winning outcomes specified in the paytable.Therefore, unlike conventional gaming devices that utilize severalrandom numbers to determine game output characteristics, such as reelstop positions or cards from a virtual deck, and require furtheranalysis to determine the game outcome, process (216) directly utilizesthe single RNG value obtained to determine if the game outcome is awinning outcome, and if so, which winning outcome is to be awarded.

After a game outcome has been determined in process (216), displaycharacteristics of the game outcome are determined in process (218).This process involves determining how to display the game outcomedetermined in process (216). If a winning outcome is determined as thegame outcome in process (216), the display characteristic determinationmay include identifying reel stop numbers or card values correspondingto the winning outcome and selecting which of the identified reel stopnumbers or card values to display as the game outcome. This process ismore fully discussed below with respect to FIG. 7. If a losing outcomeis determined as the game outcome in process (216), the displaycharacteristic determination may include choosing an outcome andconfirming that the chosen outcome is indeed a losing outcome. Thisprocess is more fully discussed below with respect to FIG. 8.

The game event is then displayed to the player in process (220). Thedisplay of the game event may have begun upon receiving a wager (210) orupon initiation of the game (212), but does not conclude until the gameoutcome display has been determined in process (218). For example, in aspinning reel gaming device, the reels may have begun to spin prior tothe determination of the game outcome display, but the reels will notstop until it is determined where they are going to stop so that theyproperly show the determined game outcome. In another example, thedisplay of a game event for a video poker gaming device may includedisplaying a dealt hand, receiving one or more player inputs to hold anddraw cards, and displaying a final poker hand.

At the conclusion of the game event, the game outcome will be displayedto the player in process (222). Depending on the type of gaming devicebeing played, the display of the game outcome may include the stoppedpositions of game reels, a final poker hand, a complete keno numberreveal, a blackjack dealer's hand, etc. If the game outcome isassociated with a bonus, play of the gaming device may transfer to abonus mode to allow the player to play a bonus and/or receive a bonusaward. If the game outcome is a winning game outcome, the awardassociated with the winning outcome and any other displayed winningcombination is paid in process (224).

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a method of displaying a winning outcome ona gaming device according to embodiments of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, an example flow 205 begins by determining that thegame outcome is to be a winning game outcome in process (230). Thisprocess may be accomplished, for example, by determining that anobtained random number corresponds to one of a plurality of gameoutcomes associated with an award value. With reference to FIG. 4A, agame outcome may be determined to be a winning outcome when a randomnumber is obtained that corresponds to a random outcome value of 1800 orgreater. Additionally, the specific winning combination of symbols isdetermined in process (230). With reference again to FIG. 4A, thisspecific winning combination of symbols is determined by identifying arange created by the paytable weights for which a random outcomecorresponds.

After a winning outcome has been determined, the reel stop positionsassociated with the symbols of the winning outcome are identified inprocess (232). For example, in the three reel slot machine examplediscussed with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B, where a winning outcome isdetermined to include three double bars (“DB DB DB”), reel stops 8 and18 would be identified for reel 1, reel stops 6 and 18 would beidentified for reel 2, and reel stops 4 and 18 would be identified forreel 3. In a video poker example, where a heart flush was determined asthe game outcome, each heart card may be identified in process (232).

Once the reel stop positions (or other winning indicia) associated withthe game outcome have been identified (232), the gaming device selectsamong the identified reel stop positions to determine the reel stops forthe game outcome display. In the three reel slot example, the gamingdevice may select reel stops 8, 18, and 18 as the reel stops of thedouble bars to display as the game outcome. In the video poker example,the gaming device may select the 2, 5, 8, Jack, and Ace of hearts todisplay as the game outcome. This selection process may include randomlyselecting among the identified reel stop positions or cards in someembodiments. Alternatively, the selection process may sequentiallychoose between the reel stops and cards, or use another selectiontechnique.

In process 236, the gaming device determines whether there are anyfurther reels (or cards) to determine for the displayed winning outcome.For example, if the three reel slot device selected the bonus (“X X BN”)as the winning outcome, the second reel stop of the third reel would beselected to display the winning outcome. However, since the win onlyrequires a bonus symbol to land on the payline of the third reel for abonus win, the outcomes displayed on the first two reels do not affectthis winning outcome. In such a case, the gaming device would select twoother reel stop positions for reels 1 and 2 to complete the game outcomedisplay in process 238. In a five reel slot device, wins are typicallygiven for three and four symbol combinations the fall on a payline fromleft to right. Hence, if a winning outcome was selected for a threesymbol win on a five reel game, reel stops for the other two reels wouldbe selected in process 238. In the above video poker example, after thefive heart cards were selected, five other cards would be selected tocomplete the possible dealt and draw hands in process 238. Theseadditional selections of process 238 may be made randomly or by anotherselection technique.

If there are extra reels or cards to determine, after these other reelstops or cards have been determined, the gaming device insures thatthese additional selections do not affect the game outcome in process(240). In the three reel example, it would make no difference which reelstops were selected for reels 1 and 2. However, in the five reel examplewhere a three symbol winning outcome was selected, process (240) wouldinsure that a fourth symbol matching the symbol of the winning outcomedid not fall on the same payline for the fourth reel since this foursymbol win would be significantly greater than the winning outcome thatwas determined by the in process (216) of FIG. 6.

When it is determined that either no additional reels need to bedetermined or that the additional reels that have been determined do notaffect the outcome, the determined game outcome is displayed to theplayer in process (242). For the spinning reel examples, the display ofthis outcome is described above. Further details of methods ofdisplaying a video poker outcome are discussed below with respect toFIG. 12. Process (244) then awards the prize or prizes associated withthe determined winning outcome.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a method of displaying a losing outcome on agaming device according to embodiments of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, an example flow 208 begins by determining that thegame outcome is to be a losing game outcome in process (250). Thisprocess may be accomplished, for example, by determining that anobtained random number corresponds to the generic losing outcome. Withreference to FIG. 4A, a game outcome may be determined to be a losingoutcome when a random number is obtained that corresponds to a randomoutcome value of 1799 or less.

After a losing outcome has been determined, the game device maydetermine whether the losing outcome is to be a near-miss outcome inprocess (252). Near-miss outcomes are outcomes that initially appear tobe headed toward a large prize only to nearly miss the prize at the lastmoment. For instance, in the three-reel gaming device example describedabove, a near miss outcome may be a jackpot symbol landing on thepayline for the first reel, a jackpot symbol landing on the payline forthe second reel, and a blank adjacent to the a jackpot symbol landing onthe payline for the third reel. Since the first reel stops first,followed by the second reel stopping, the player may become excitedthinking they have a good chance at winning the jackpot award. When thethird reel finally stops, they may be disappointed about not winning thejackpot, but they will typically be more excited about “nearly missing”the jackpot than had they received a losing outcome with three blanksymbols even though neither result pays any credits.

A determination of whether a losing outcome is a near-miss outcome inprocess (252) may include a separate determination from the initialdetermination of the game outcome in process (216) of FIG. 6, ornear-miss outcomes may be built into the paytable shown in FIG. 4A.Since there is no award associated with a near miss outcome, a portionof the 1800 paytable weight for the losing outcome may be allocated toone or more categories of near miss outcomes, which can be explicitlyincluded in the paytable. Alternatively, a single near-miss outcome maybe included in the paytable and a separate list of possible near-missoutcomes may be stored in the memory of the gaming device. If near-missoutcomes are not included in the game paytable, a separate determinationmay be made as to whether the losing outcome is a near-miss outcome suchas randomly selecting a number between 1 and 20, where a selection of“20” would result in the selection of a near-miss outcome from a list ofpossible near-miss outcomes. Various other alternative embodiments arealso possible. Additionally, some embodiments may not include a separateprocess for determining if a losing outcome is a near-miss outcome;thus, any near-miss outcome would simply be the result of the selectionof the losing outcome.

If a near-miss outcome is selected in process (252), the actualnear-miss outcome to be displayed is determined in process (258). Ifnear-misses are included in the game paytable, this process (258) wouldinclude identifying which of the near-miss outcomes specified in thepaytable was selected. If a separate list of near-miss outcomes is used,process (258) may include selecting, randomly or otherwise, one of thespecified near-miss outcomes to display.

If the gaming device does not include a near-miss outcome option, orwhen it is determined that the losing outcome is not a near-missoutcome, the gaming device selects a game outcome to display in process(254). For a spinning reel gaming device, this process may includeselecting reel stops for each of the reels. For a video poker gamingdevice, this process may include selecting cards to display. Since thereare typically a very large number of possible losing outcomes, theselection process may randomly select reel stops or cards to display asthe losing outcome. However, other selection methods may be employed todetermine the reel stops or cards. After this selection has taken place,the gaming device determines whether the selected outcome is a losingoutcome in process (256). That is, process (256) insures that a selectedoutcome to display is not associated with an award. If the selectedoutcome is determined to be associated with an award, the outcomeselection in process (254) is repeated until a selected outcome isdetermined to be a losing outcome. After a losing outcome to display isdetermined, or a near-miss outcome is selected, the gaming devicedisplays this outcome to the player in process (260).

As alluded to above with respect to FIGS. 5A-5C, multi-line gamesusually present additional complications over a single-line gamingdevice. Some simple multi-line games may just take into account possiblereel stop combinations that award multiple prizes, such as those shownin FIGS. 5A-5C. However, this method could become very cumbersome andcomplex for most multi-line games, especially for those that utilizefour or more reels and reel strips with adjacent symbols (i.e., no“blanks” between the symbols). FIGS. 9-11 discuss several methods ofutilizing this game outcome determination concept on these more complexmulti-line gaming devices. However, the inventive concept is not limitedonly to these example embodiments; rather, this concept includes allsimilar methods of determining game outcomes on multi-line gamingdevices using an overall randomly determined outcome.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a method of displaying a game outcome on amulti-line gaming device according to embodiments of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 9, an example flow 300 begins by receiving a wager andgame initiation input from the player in process (310). For purposes ofthis embodiment, assume that a player is playing each line of a fiveline video spinning reel gaming device such as the gaming deviceillustrated in FIG. 2B. In process (312), the gaming device selects anoutcome for the next line played. In the above example, the gamingdevice would select an outcome for the first payline here. The gamingdevice then determines whether the selected outcome is a winning outcomein process (314). If it is a winning outcome, the gaming device storesthis winning outcome in memory as a winning outcome associated with thefirst payline in process (316). It is then determined if another linehas been played by the player in process (318). If another line is beingplayed by the player, the gaming device selects an outcome for the nextpayline in process (312) and repeats the processes of determiningwhether this newly selected outcome is a winning outcome (314) andstoring the winning outcome in memory if the newly selected outcome is awinning outcome (316). This procedure is repeated for each of thepaylines played by the player. In the above example, the player hasplayed all five paylines. Thus, this procedure repeats five times wherea selected outcome is determined for each of the five played paylines.

After determining a outcome for each payline, the gaming devicedetermines if any winning outcomes have been stored in memory in process(320). If no winning outcomes have been determined, the gaming deviceselects a losing outcome in process (330). This selection process (330)may include the process steps of selecting a losing outcome discussed inFIG. 8. The losing outcome is then displayed to the player in process(332) and the gaming device waits for further input (334). If one ormore winning outcomes are determined as having been stored in memory(320), the gaming device selects a winning outcome display for the nextstored winning outcome in process (322). Process (322) may include theprocess steps of selecting a winning outcome described above withrespect to FIG. 7. If in the above five line example winning outcomeswere determined for paylines 2 and 5, two winning outcomes would bestored in memory. A winning outcome display for the winning outcome onpayline 2 would be initially selected by process (322).

The winning outcome display determined in process (322) would then bedisplayed to the player in process (324) and prizes associated with thiswinning outcome would be awarded to the player in process (326). In someembodiments, the payline for which the winning outcome is associatedwith may be highlighted prior to the reels being spun so that the playerfocuses on the symbols landing on that payline. Winning combinationsincidentally appearing on other paylines not associated with thehighlighted payline would not be paid. If additional winning outcomesare stored in memory as determined in process (328), processes (322),(324), and (326) are repeated for each of these stored winning outcomes.In other embodiments, each winning outcome display may be determined(322) prior to displaying any of the outcomes (324) or awarding anyprizes (326). Essentially, these embodiments would move process (328) upin flow 300 so it was between processes (322) and (324). This processmay be exciting for a player because each spin of the gaming deviceresults in a winning outcome. Thus, with each additional spin, theplayer may become more excited. In some embodiments, the stored winningoutcomes may be displayed sequentially be payline number. Hence, a winon payline 2 would be displayed before a win on payline 5. In otherembodiments, the stored winning outcomes may be rearranged so that thewinning outcomes are displayed from smallest award amount to largestaward amount. For example, if the award associated with the winningoutcome on payline 2 is greater than the award amount associated withthe winning outcome on payline 5, the winning outcome on payline 5 maybe displayed first. These embodiments may build further excitement for aplayer as each additional spin will not only result in another win, butlikely a larger win. Each iteration of displaying a winning outcome andproviding an award to the player may be done without further playerinteraction.

In other embodiments, outcomes may be selected and displayed for each ofthe lines played. In these embodiments, loses may be only brieflydisplayed while wins are displayed for a longer period of time asdescribed in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/204,633,filed Sep. 4, 2008, entitled GAMING DEVICE HAVING VARIABLE SPEED OFPLAY, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of another method of displaying a game outcomeon a multi-line gaming device according to embodiments of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 10, an example flow 305 includes many similarprocesses to the example flow 300 illustrated in FIG. 9. However,instead of storing and displaying winning combinations for each winningoutcome determined in process (312), embodiments related to flow 305only stores a winning outcome with largest associated award. Thus, afterdetermining that an outcome is a winning outcome in process (314), thegaming device determines if the newly selected winning outcome isassociated with an award greater than the award of any previously storedoutcome in process (315). If the newly selected winning outcome isassociated with a larger award (or it is the first winning outcome to bestored), the newly selected winning outcome replaces the old storedwinning outcome if any in process (317). Here, a winning outcome isselected for each of the lines played in processes (312), (314), and(318).

If it is determined that a winning outcome has been stored in process(320), the gaming device selects a winning outcome to display in process(321) and confirms that this outcome display does not include a winningcombination with an award value greater than the award value of theselected winning outcome in process (323). The reason for thisconfirmation process (323) is to prevent a relatively low winning awardrepeatedly bringing up a much larger jackpot award since this wouldsignificantly nullify the weighted values in the paytable. However,additional lower paying awards may be allowed to be paid as one of thebenefits of playing multiple lines. Once a winning outcome display hasbeen selected and confirmed, the winning outcome is displayed on theassociated payline in process (324) and the award from the winningoutcome and any other winning combinations appearing on other playedpaylines are paid to the player in process (326).

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of yet another method of displaying a gameoutcome on a multi-line gaming device according to embodiments of theinvention.

Referring to FIG. 11, an example flow 308 begins by receiving a wagerand game initiation input from the player in process (350). In process(352), the gaming device selects an outcome for the initiated game. Thegaming device selects only one game outcome regardless of whether theplayer is playing one payline or multiple paylines. However, thepaytable (such as the paytable illustrated in FIG. 4A) may be modifieddepending upon how many paylines the player elects to play. That is, ifthe player is playing a single payline, the paytable weights may bedifferent than if the player is playing five paylines. In someembodiments, the higher the number of paylines played, the more paytableweight is shifted from the generic losing outcome to some of the winningoutcomes. This ensures that a player playing more paylines, and making agreater wager, is more likely to receive a winning outcome than a playerplaying only one payline.

In process (354), it is determined whether the selected outcome is awinning outcome. If it is a losing outcome, an outcome to display isdetermined in process (356) and it is confirmed that this outcome todisplay is a losing outcome and does not provide a winning combinationon another played payline in process (358). Once the displayed outcomeis determined to be a losing outcome, the losing outcome is displayed inprocess (360). Since it doesn't matter on which payline the losingoutcome is displayed, the reel stops associated with the losing outcomemay be displayed on a central payline, which is usually the firstpayline.

If process (354) determines that the selected outcome is a winningoutcome, the gaming device selects among reel stop positions associatedwith the winning outcome to determine the reel stop positions to displayin process (370). The gaming device then chooses which of the playedlines to display the determined reel stops associated with the winningoutcome in process (372). The selection of the payline to display thegame outcome in process (372) may be a random selection, a sequentialselection through the paylines, or another type of selection. Once thereel stops are known and the payline on which they will be displayed isknown, the game device analyzes the other reel positions to determine ifany of the other paylines include a winning combination in process(374). Unlike the example flow 305 illustrated in FIG. 10, if a symbolcombination with an award larger than the award of the winning outcomeis determined to be present on a played payline, that award is paidalong with the award for the winning outcome and any other winningawards. For this reason, the change in the paytable weights betweendifferent numbers of played lines may not be that drastic. Rather, onlya few of the paytable weight values for the generic losing outcome maybe transferred to some of the lower valued winning outcomes to increasethe overall hit frequency of the gaming device while still allowing foradditional wins to be accumulated for secondary winning symbolcombinations present when a winning outcome is determined and displayed.Afterwards, the reels are spun until the selected reel stops appear onthe selected payline, and the award associated with the winning outcomeand any other awards from other winning symbol combinations appearing onplayed paylines are paid to the player in process (376). The gamingdevice may then wait for further player input in process (380).

The multi-line selection methods described above focus on gaming devicesthat may have fixed reel strips. That is, reel strips that correspond toeach reel of the game device and do not change between games. However,for gaming devices that use individual reel strips for each symbolposition on a gaming display (“super spin” games) or for gaming devicesthat use flexible reel strips, alternative multi-line techniques may beavailable. Super spin games and flexible reel strip games have theability to select a symbol for every displayed symbol position on agaming display. Thus, more detailed selection processes may be used inchoosing the symbols to display on the screen. In one example, amulti-line game may select an outcome for each played line where thegame locks in winning outcome symbol positions for paylines that aredetermined earlier. That is, if a player is playing a five line game(FIG. 2B) and a three bar winning outcome is selected on the firstpayline (the horizontal middle payline), the first three symbols on thatpayline are “locked in” with bar outcomes. If the outcomes on the fourthor fifth payline are selected such that they require a symbol differentthan a bar symbol in the second position on the payline (where theleft-most cherry is in FIG. 2B), the gaming device may select anotheroutcome until an outcome is compatible with the bar symbol or employ oneof the multi-line techniques discussed above. Alternatively, once awinning outcome is “locked in,” the remaining outcomes on other paylinesmay be selected from a subset of the possible outcomes that correspondto the previously selected locked-in outcome.

In another example, a multi-line game may select a single award valueand apportion this award value between multiple outcomes displayed onplayed paylines. That is, if an award value of 150 credits was selected,an outcome associated with a 100 credit award may be selected forpayline 1, an outcome associated with a 40 credit award may be selectedfor payline 3, and an outcome associated with a 10 credit award may beselected for payline 5. In addition, other symbols may be selected forthe symbol positions not involved in the selected outcomes that causenear-miss outcomes to appear on other played lines. This may give theplayer the feeling that they almost won additional credits.

As discussed above, this concept is not limited only to slot machinegaming devices. Rather, this outcome determination concept can be usedwith a variety of different gaming device types or themes. For example,this concept may be used with keno, video blackjack, video poker, etc.FIG. 12 is provided as an example of how this concept may be implementedon one of these “other” types of gaming devices, in this case videopoker.

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of a method of displaying a game outcome on avideo poker gaming device according to embodiments of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 12, an example flow 400 begins by receiving a wagerand game initiation input from the player in process (410). In process(412), the gaming device selects an outcome for the initiated game,randomly or otherwise, and then determines if the outcome is a winningoutcome in process (414). One of the main differences between thisembodiment and the spinning reel embodiments discussed above is in themethod of how to display the winning and losing outcomes since videopoker includes a dealt hand, player input to hold cards in the dealthand, and then draw cards for any card not held from the dealt hand.There is total possibility of ten cards being used for a single game ifthe player does not hold any cards from the dealt hand. To account forthe player's ability to hold cards and draw cards in creating a finalhand, the gaming device has to make certain assumptions about what theplayer will do. In the example discussed here, the gaming device assumesthat the player will use the strategy that is theoretically most likelyto result in the best paying hand (also referred to here as a “beststrategy”). Other assumptions may be made in different embodiments.

If the selected outcome is not determined to be a winning outcome inprocess (414) (i.e., it is a determined to be a losing outcome), a groupof dealt cards and possible draw cards are selected in process (420) andconfirmed to result in a losing hand using the best strategy assumptionsin process (425). For example, if the dealt hand includes 4H, 6S, 8D,10C, and QD, the best strategy would be to hold the QD and draw fourcards. Process (425) would ensure that that another Q or another winningcombo did not exist in the next four draw cards. However, assume thatthe player held the 8D and the draw cards included 8S and 8H in the nextfour draw cards. The player would actually win here, even though alosing outcome was selected since the player was not using the beststrategy assumed by the gaming device. Other embodiments may ensure thatno win is possible when it is determined that the outcome is a losingoutcome.

If the selected outcome is determined to be a winning outcome in process(414), the gaming device selects the winning cards, randomly orotherwise, in process (430) and the other cards to fill out the dealtand draw hands in process (432). For example if the winning hand wasdetermined to be a three of a kind, three kings may be selected as thewinning outcome and seven other cards may be selected as the remainingcards. The gaming device then confirms that the other cards do notresult in a win larger than the win associated with the selected winningoutcome (e.g., a fourth king is not selected among the other sevencards) in process (434). Once the other cards are confirmed as beingacceptable, all of the cards are shuffled and separated into a dealthand and draw cards in process (436). It is then determined whether thewinning hand would be reached from the dealt hand by a player using thebest strategy in process (438). For example, if the dealt hand includedonly one king and four other cards of different matching suit such asfour hearts and king of spades, the best strategy would be the hold thefour hearts and not the king. Here, the cards would be reshuffled inprocess (436) until it was determined that the winning hand wasreachable by a player using the best strategy.

Once a dealt hand and draw card order has been set for either thewinning or losing hands, the dealt cards are displayed to the player inprocess (440). The gaming device waits for the player's input to holdcards and request a draw in process (442). The gaming device thendisplays a final poker hand and awards any prizes associated with thefinal poker hand in process (444). The gaming device may than wait forfurther player input in process (446).

Some embodiments of the invention have been described above, and inaddition, some specific details are shown for purposes of illustratingthe inventive principles. However, numerous other arrangements may bedevised in accordance with the inventive principles of this patentdisclosure. Further, well known processes have not been described indetail in order not to obscure the invention. Thus, while the inventionis described in conjunction with the specific embodiments illustrated inthe drawings, it is not limited to these embodiments or drawings.Rather, the invention is intended to cover alternatives, modifications,and equivalents that come within the scope and spirit of the inventiveprinciples set out in the appended claims.

1. A method of determining a game outcome on a gaming device, the methodcomprising: receiving a game initiating input; selecting a single randomnumber; determining if the single random number corresponds to a winninggame outcome; displaying the winning game outcome corresponding to thesingle random number when the single random number corresponds to awinning game outcome; and displaying a losing game outcome when thesingle random number does not correspond to a winning game outcome. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein displaying a losing game outcome includesselecting a losing game outcome from a plurality of losing game outcomesto display.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying a losing gameoutcome includes: selecting a game outcome display; determining if theselected game outcome display corresponds to a losing game outcomedisplay; displaying the selected game outcome display when the selectedgame outcome display corresponds to a losing game outcome display; andselecting another game outcome display until a selected game outcomedisplay corresponds to a losing game outcome display when the selectedgame outcome display corresponds to a winning game outcome display. 4.The method of claim 3, wherein selecting a game outcome display includesrandomly selecting reel stops for a spinning reel gaming device.
 5. Themethod of claim 3, wherein selecting a game outcome display includesrandomly selecting cards to display in a video poker gaming device. 6.The method of claim 1, wherein displaying a losing game outcome includesdisplaying a near-miss losing outcome when a determination indicatesthat a near-miss losing outcome is to be displayed.
 7. The method ofclaim 6, wherein displaying a near-miss losing outcome includes randomlyselecting one of a plurality of near-miss losing outcomes to display. 8.The method of claim 1, wherein determining if the single random numbercorresponds to a winning game outcome includes: normalizing the singlerandom number to correspond to a numerical format of an outcome table;matching the normalized single random number with an entry in theoutcome table; and determining if the matched outcome table entry isassociated with a winning game outcome.
 9. The method of claim 1,wherein displaying the winning game outcome corresponding to the singlerandom number includes: determining reel stops associated with symbolscorresponding to the winning game outcome; and spinning game reels tothe determined reel stops.
 10. The method of claim 9, whereindetermining reel stops associated with symbols corresponding to thewinning game outcome includes randomly selecting one of a plurality ofreel stops that correspond to the symbols.
 11. The method of claim 9,wherein determining reel stops associated with symbols corresponding tothe winning game outcome includes selecting a next reel stop from aplurality of reel stops that correspond to the symbols.
 12. The methodof claim 1, wherein determining if the single random number correspondsto a winning game outcome includes determining if the single randomnumber corresponds to a winning video poker hand.
 13. The method ofclaim 12, wherein displaying the winning game outcome corresponding tothe single random number includes: selecting cards associated with thewinning poker hand; selecting additional cards to complete a set ofcards used in a dealt hand and a reserved draw hand; rearranging apresentation order of the winning cards and the additional cards to formthe dealt hand and the reserved draw hand; determining if the winninggame outcome would be reached by a player using a best strategy;repeating the rearranging of the card presentation order process anddetermination process until it is determined that the winning outcomewould be reached using a best strategy; thereafter, displaying the dealthand to the player; receiving at least one player input to manage thedealt hand and draw additional cards from the reserved draw hand ifdesired; and displaying a final poker hand to the player.
 14. The methodof claim 13, wherein selecting additional cards to complete a set ofcards used in a dealt hand and a reserved draw hand includes:determining if a combination of the winning poker cards and the selectedadditional cards result in a larger winning hand than the determinedwinning game outcome; and selecting another set of additional cardsuntil the combination of cards does not result in a larger winning handthan the determined winning game outcome.
 15. A method of determiningand displaying a game outcome on a gaming device, the method comprising:receiving a game initiating input; obtaining a game outcome indicator;selecting one of a plurality of possible outcomes as the game outcomeusing the game outcome indicator, wherein the plurality of possibleoutcomes includes a plurality of winning game outcomes associated with aprize and a generic losing outcome; when the selected game outcome isassociated with a prize: determining display characteristics of the gameoutcome, displaying the game outcome using the determined displaycharacteristics, and awarding the prize associated with the gameoutcome; and when the selected game outcome is associated with thegeneric losing outcome: selecting an outcome to display, determining ifthe selected outcome is associated with a losing result, repeating theselection of an outcome until the selected outcome is associated with alosing result, and displaying the selected outcome associated with alosing result.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality ofpossible outcomes further includes at least one near-miss losingoutcome.
 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising when theselected game outcome is associated with a near-miss losing outcome:determining display characteristics of the game outcome; and displayingthe game outcome using the determined display characteristics.
 18. Themethod of claim 15, wherein the gaming device is a multi-line gamingdevice.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein when the selected gameoutcome is associated with a prize, the method further comprises:identifying each of the played paylines; and selecting one of the playedpaylines to display the game outcome.
 20. The method of claim 19,wherein when the selected game outcome is associated with a prize, themethod further comprises: determining if any additional winningcombinations appear on a played payline other than the payline chosen todisplay the game outcome; and awarding prizes for any additional winningcombinations determined as appearing on a played payline.
 21. A methodof determining and displaying a game outcome on a multi-line gamingdevice, the method comprising: receiving a game initiating input;determining a game outcome for each played payline; when at least one ofthe game outcomes is associated with a prize: separately displaying eachof the game outcomes, and awarding the prize associated with eachdisplayed game outcome; and when all of the game outcomes are associatedwith a losing outcome: selecting a losing outcome to display, anddisplaying the losing outcome.
 22. The method of claim 21, whereindetermining a game outcome for each played payline includes: determininga game outcome for a first played payline; storing the game outcome inmemory if the game outcome is associated with a prize; and repeating thedetermination and storage processes until a game outcome has beendetermined for each played payline.
 23. The method of claim 21, whereinseparately displaying each of the game outcomes when at least one of thegame outcomes is associated with a prize includes spinning game reels todisplay a determined game outcome for each of the game outcomesassociated with a prize.
 24. The method of claim 23, wherein each gameoutcome is displayed on a common payline.
 25. The method of claim 23,wherein each game outcome is displayed on a played payline correspondingto the game outcome.
 26. The method of claim 25, wherein reel stoppositions corresponding to the played payline corresponding to a gameoutcome are highlighted prior to the game reels spinning.
 27. A methodof determining and displaying a game outcome on a multi-line gamingdevice, the method comprising: receiving a game initiating input;determining a game outcome for each played payline; storing a gameoutcome having the largest associated prize in memory when at least oneof the determined game outcomes is associated with a prize; storing aselected losing outcome in memory when none of the game outcomes areassociated with a prize; and displaying the stored game outcome.
 28. Themethod of claim 27, wherein storing a selected losing outcome in memorywhen none of the game outcomes is associated with a prize includes:randomly selecting a losing outcome; and storing the randomly selectedlosing outcome in memory.
 29. The method of claim 27, wherein storing agame outcome having the largest associated prize in memory if at leastone of the determined game outcomes is associated with a prize includes:comparing a prize amount for a determined game outcome with a prizeamount for a previously stored game outcome; and replacing thepreviously stored game outcome with the determined game outcome when theprize amount for the determined game outcome is larger than the prizeamount for the previously stored game outcome.
 30. The method of claim27, further comprising awarding a prize associated with a stored gameoutcome when the stored game outcome is associated with a prize.
 31. Agame device comprising: a player interface panel including at least onegame initiation device; a memory to store a plurality of possibleoutcomes including each outcome associated with an award and a genericlosing outcome; a processor configured to determine a game outcome fromthe plurality of possible outcomes and configured to determine displayparameters of the game outcome; and a game display to show the gameoutcome having the determined display parameters.
 32. The gaming deviceof claim 31, wherein the processor is configured to determine thedisplay parameters of a game outcome associated with an award byselecting reel stops corresponding to the game outcome.
 33. The gamingdevice of claim 31, wherein the processor is configured to determine thedisplay parameters of a losing game outcome by selecting reel stops andconfirming that the selected reel stops do not result in a winningoutcome.
 34. The gaming device of claim 31, wherein the processor isconfigured to determine the display parameters of a game outcomeassociated with an award by selecting cards corresponding to the gameoutcome.
 35. The gaming device of claim 34, wherein the processor isfurther configured to rearrange an order of the selected cards andconfirm that the rearranged order will result in the game outcome usinga best strategy.
 36. The gaming device of claim 31, wherein theprocessor is configured to determine the display parameters of a losinggame outcome by selecting cards and confirming that the selected cardsdo not result in a winning outcome when using a best strategy.
 37. Thegaming device of claim 31, wherein the plurality of possible outcomesincludes each outcome associated with an award and only one genericlosing outcome.
 38. The gaming device of claim 37, wherein each of theplurality of possible outcomes has a corresponding table range withwhich it is associated.
 39. The gaming device of claim 38, wherein thetable ranges of each outcome is associated with the hit frequency ofthat game outcome.
 40. The gaming device of claim 39, wherein the memoryis modifiable by a casino operator to alter the table ranges of eachoutcome.
 41. The gaming device of claim 39, wherein the table rangesstored in the memory are modifiable based on game events occurring onthe game device.
 42. The gaming device of claim 39, wherein the tableranges stored in the memory are modifiable based on characteristics of aplayer.